![]() ![]() As it accelerates toward the black hole, X7 is moving rapidly, clocking in at speeds of up to around 700 miles per second. But X7's shape and velocity have changed more dramatically than G objects' have. Those so-called G objects look like gas but behave like stars. X7 shows some of the same properties as the other strange dusty objects orbiting Sgr A*. Tidal forces are the gravitational pull that causes an object approaching a black hole to stretch the side of the object closest to the black hole is pulled much more strongly than the opposite end. "We anticipate the strong tidal forces exerted by the galactic black hole will ultimately tear X7 apart before it completes even one orbit," said co-author Mark Morris, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy. Based on its trajectory, the team estimates that X7 will make its closest approach to Sgr A* around the year 2036, and then likely spiral toward Sgr A* and disappear. X7 has a mass of about 50 Earth and is on an orbital path around Sgr A* that would take 170 years to complete.īut that might never happen. Something must have put this cloud on its particular path with its particular orientation." But as we followed it for 20 years we saw it becoming more elongated. "It started off comet-shaped and people thought maybe it got that shape from stellar winds or jets of particles from the black hole. "No other object in this region has shown such an extreme evolution," said Anna Ciurlo, a UCLA assistant researcher and the paper's lead author. The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal.Īlso Read: Discovery of six massive early galaxies challenges previous understanding of universe They expect that within the next few decades, X7 will disintegrate and the gas and dust of which it is composed will eventually be drawn toward the black hole, which is called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*. Over time, they report, X7 has stretched, and it is being pulled apart as the black hole drags it closer, exerting its tidal force upon the cloud. ![]() Now, having examined the evolution of X7 using 20 years of data gathered by the Galactic Center Orbit Initiative, astronomers from the UCLA Galactic Center Group and the Keck Observatory propose that it could be a cloud of dust and gas that was ejected during the collision of two stars. Was it pulled off a larger structure nearby? Was its unusual form the result of stellar winds or was it shaped by jets of particles from the black hole?Īlso Read: Jupiter, Venus to come extremely close on March 1 in a rare conjunction. It will eventually be dragged towards the black hole, where it will eventually fall apart, according to the experts.įor two decades, scientists have observed an elongated object named X7 near the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and wondered what it was. ![]() According to a recent study, the object known as X7 might be a cloud of gas and dust that resulted from the collision of two stars. Scientists are interested in an item that is close to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy because it has undergone a rapid and dramatic evolution. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |